oyerpeck



nitehtatrs gau 3 ISAAC E. AN D JOHN A. OVERPECK, OF OVERPECKS STATION,OIIIO.

Letters Patent No. 62,876, dated March 12, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN CANE srmrrrn.

TO ALL WHOMIT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that we, ISAAC E. OVERPECK and JOHN A. OVERPEGK, ofOverpeck's Station, in Butler county, in the State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Sorghum Strippers; andwe do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of our invention.

Figure 2 represents the reverse side from that seen in fig. 1, and asectional view of the handle.

Our improved sorghum stripper is so. constructed as to be capable ofseizing the top of a stalk, cutting it oil, and drawing the end of thestalk within a stripping ring or aperture which is forced down aroundthe stalk, causing the leaves or blades to be quickly stripped oil, andfinally, by a drawing action, the stalk is cut off from its stump nearthe ground. I

In the accompanying drawings, a indicates a book, which is formed at theend of a metal bar or red, a. The bar a extends through the handle I),and is secured therein by the nut c at the end of handle 6. The-bar a,of which the hook a is an extension, is encased in the sheath Aand A, asrepsesented in the drawings. That part ot" the sheath A which iscylindrical fits into a ferrule, d, attached to handle 6, and thatportion of the sheath marked A covers three sides of the bar a", andissecured upon it by the connecting piece 0'. curved arm I), which isattached to sheath A, is provided with a double-edged knife, e, whichextends-across from the upper end of arm I) to the sheath A, and isrigidly fastened at both ends, where it connects with the' arm and thesheath. A portion of the arm D and a portion of the sheath A (which isabove the point of connection of the arm Dwith the sheath) is cut awayat a: x, as-seen at fig. 1, which makes these parts flush with the flushedges of thc knii'e's. The body of the hook (I. is widened for thepurpose of retaining its hold uponthe I end of the stalk after it is cutoil at the top.

The stripper may be used in the following manner: The handle is graspedwith one hand, and the sheath, at A, is held with the other, thestripper being in position as represented in fig. 2. The top of thesorghum stalk is caught with the hook a, when the handle b is firmlyheld while the sheath A A is shoved upwards with the left hand of theoperator, which will cause the knife e to cut off the top of the stalkwhich is between it and the hook a. As the knife, is cutting oil thestalk the hook it is forcing the end of it'below the knife edge and intothe aperture formed by the knife and arm D. The next movement is toforce the stalk through the aperture E, by hearing or pushing thestripper down towards the root-0t the stalk, which will efi'ectuallydivest the stalkotlall its blades. This being done, the operator seizesthe sheath at A, in his right hand and the stalk in his left hand, when,by drawing the instrument towards him, the lower edge of the knife willsever the stalk, and its stump will at the same time cause the hook,with the handle I), to be drawn back to the position represented in fig.2, and ready for a second operation. The dotted lines in fig. 1represent the relative position of the hook at and knife 0 after the topof the stalk is cut oh and at the beginning of the operation ofstripping 0d the leaves. We have found our improved stripper to operatewell with the aperture. E made a little larger than the circumference ofthe largest sorghum stalks. When the sheath A A is thrust upwards uponthe hook- 1 bar a to the position as represented in the dotted lines infig. 1, the projecting end of the hook a will strike against-theinclined shoulder 2' of the arm D and stop the further movement of theshield in that direction. But, in cutting ofi' the but of the stalk, thehook at, with its bar a and handle I), will be easily forced back totheir first position by the stump, which will bear againstthe flattenedhook during the cutting action of the kz'iife. Having fully describedour improvement in sorghum strippers, what we claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, isv 1. The double-edged knife 2, arranged andoperating in combination with book a, for cutting andstripping stalks,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. he handle 6 d and shield A A, in combination with ahook and knife,arranged substantially as specified for the purpose set forth. I

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set ourhands this 5th day ofJanuary, 1867.

' I. E. OVERPECK, J. A. OVERPECK.

Witnesses:

H; P. K. Pack. Gsoren JAconY.

